CN115376642A

CN115376642A - Medical image processing apparatus, control method therefor, and computer-readable medium

Info

Publication number: CN115376642A
Application number: CN202211193854.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 今杉佑介; 阪本刚; 三宅德朗
Original assignee: Canon Inc
Current assignee: Canon Inc
Priority date: 2015-10-29
Filing date: 2016-10-28
Publication date: 2022-11-22
Also published as: US20180268931A1; WO2017073702A1; US10984906B2; US11810659B2; CN108352184A; CN108352184B; US20210257083A1

Abstract

The invention provides a medical image processing apparatus, a control method thereof and a computer readable medium. A mechanism is provided by which an electronic document capable of displaying a three-dimensional organ model can be easily generated from a medical image. When a command to generate an electronic document is issued, patient information is acquired from the DICOM supplementary information, and control is performed so that a three-dimensional organ model electronic document that corresponds to medical image data and includes the acquired patient information is generated. Due to this configuration, with respect to the electronic document, it is possible to identify a patient to which the three-dimensional organ model belongs.

Description

Medical image processing apparatus, control method therefor, and computer-readable medium

The present application is a divisional application of an invention patent application having an application date of 2016, 28/10, and an application number of 201680062747.7 (international application number of PCT/JP 2016/081979), entitled "medical image processing apparatus, program installable in the medical image processing apparatus, and medical image processing method".

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a medical image processing apparatus, a medical image processing method, and a program that can be installed in the medical image processing apparatus.

Background

Recently, the following medical practices are widely performed in the medical care field: that is, medical practice of creating a three-dimensional image of a human body from a medical image taken by a medical device such as an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) device, an X-ray CT (Computed Tomography) device, or the like, and medical practice of utilizing the three-dimensional image in treatment and diagnosis. Patent literature (PTL) 1 discloses a medical image diagnosis apparatus capable of specifying a tumor range (even for a tumor that is not visually recognizable) based on a three-dimensional image created from a medical image and assisting in determining an ablation range.

By using a high-performance computer, a three-dimensional image created from a medical image can be presented under desired display conditions in a manner that enables the image to be optionally rotated or through a rendering process. On the other hand, there is also a demand for a technique that enables viewing of three-dimensional images even in, for example, an operating room not equipped with a high-performance computer. For example, a method of outputting a three-dimensional body organ model as an electronic document in PDF format, for example, can be used as an example of a technique of displaying a three-dimensional image with a general-purpose computer.

Reference list

Patent literature

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2009-611035

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem

However, in the medical image processing apparatus of the related art, it has been quite complicated to create an electronic document capable of displaying the above-described three-dimensional body organ model because the user needs to perform the following tasks: a computer is caused to create surface shape data from a medical image taken by a medical device such as an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) device, an X-ray CT (Computed Tomography) device, or the like, output the surface shape data in a file format that can be read as an electronic document, and read the surface shape data as the electronic document.

In view of the above-described prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technique capable of easily creating an electronic document capable of displaying a three-dimensional body organ model from a medical image. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technique that enables the creation of an electronic document in a manner that enables a user to identify to which patient the information represented by the three-dimensional body organ model belongs.

Technical scheme

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a medical image processing apparatus which creates an electronic document displaying a three-dimensional body organ model, comprising: an accepting unit that accepts an instruction to specify medical image data and create an electronic document corresponding to the medical image data; an acquisition unit that acquires patient information from DICOM-attached information of medical image data designated by the creation of the electronic document instructed by the accepting unit; and a control unit that controls, in response to the electronic document creation instruction accepted by the acceptance unit, to create an electronic document of a three-dimensional body organ model corresponding to the medical image data, the relevant electronic document containing the patient information acquired by the acquisition unit.

Advantageous effects of the invention

By creating an electronic document containing patient information obtained from DICOM-attached information, it is possible to identify to which patient the information represented by the three-dimensional body organ model belongs.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration and a functional configuration of a medical image processing apparatus 101.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of medical image processing according to the present invention with reference thereto.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of medical image processing according to the present invention with reference thereto.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of medical image processing according to the present invention with reference thereto.

Fig. 5 illustrates an example of a screen displayed by the medical image processing apparatus when the medical image processing apparatus outputs an electronic document.

Fig. 6 (a) illustrates an example of a screen for setting the name of a body organ model. Fig. 6 (b) illustrates an example of a screen for setting a display color of a body organ model. Fig. 6 (c) illustrates an example of a table for managing already set layer information.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example of a screen displayed by the medical image processing apparatus when the medical image processing apparatus outputs an electronic document.

Fig. 8 illustrates an example of a screen displayed by the medical image processing apparatus when the medical image processing apparatus outputs an electronic document.

Fig. 9 illustrates an example of a screen displayed by the medical image processing apparatus when the medical image processing apparatus outputs an electronic document.

Fig. 10 illustrates an example of a screen displayed by the medical image processing apparatus when the medical image processing apparatus outputs an electronic document.

Detailed Description

A method of outputting an electronic document capable of displaying a three-dimensional body organ model by using medical three-dimensional image data created using volume data (a plurality of slice image data) taken by a medical image diagnosis apparatus (modality) will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

A modality that can be used in the present embodiment and can take a medical image is, for example, an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) device, an X-ray CT (Computed Tomography) device, a PET (Positron Emission Tomography) device, or an ultrasonic diagnostic device. Medical image data taken by the modality is stored in accordance with a standard called DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine) standard designed to standardize Communication protocols and data formats for medical images. The data conforming to the DICOM standard is constituted by an area storing image data such as slice image data and an area storing incidental information related to the image data. The DICOM additional information contains not only patient information (such as patient name, patient ID, examination date, birth date, age, and body shape information) about a patient that is a target at the time of capturing image data, but also information about conditions at the time of capturing image data. The medical image data is stored in an image server in a hospital, which is generally called PACS (picture archiving and communication system), for use by various departments of the hospital. Recently, PACS has also built into cloud services.

The embodiment is described in connection with an example in which the data format of an electronic document created by using medical image data is the PDF format, but the data format is not limited to the PDF format as long as a three-dimensional body organ model can be displayed.

Fig. 1 (a) is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a medical image processing apparatus 101 (also referred to as an "information processing apparatus") according to the present embodiment. The medical image processing apparatus 101 according to the present embodiment is configured to acquire (read) volume data created based on image data captured by the medical image processing apparatus and perform image processing of a medical three-dimensional image. The process of creating medical three-dimensional image data may be performed in advance by the medical image processing apparatus 101 or by another processor.

The CPU 201 centrally controls each device and controller connected to the system bus 204.

The ROM 202 or the external memory 211 (storage unit) stores not only control programs for the CPU 201, such as a BIOS (basic input/output system) and an operating system program (hereinafter referred to as "OS"), but also other various programs described later necessary to realize functions executed by the medical image processing apparatus 101. The RAM 203 is used as a main memory, a work area, and the like of the CPU 201.

The CPU 201 performs various operations by loading a program necessary for executing processing into the RAM 203 and executing the loaded program.

An input controller (input C) 205 controls input from an input device 209 (for example, a keyboard or a pointing device such as a mouse (not illustrated)).

Video Controller (VC) 206 controls the display of images on a display unit such as display 210. The display unit may be a CRT or a liquid crystal display, but the type of the display unit is not limited to these examples.

A Memory Controller (MC) 207 controls access to a Hard Disk (HD) connected to the PCMCIA card slot through an adapter, a Flexible Disk (FD), or an external memory 211 (e.g., card memory), which stores a boot program, browser software, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, various data, and the like.

A communication I/F controller (communication I/F C) 208 establishes a connection to and communicates with an external unit such as a storage device (storing an image acquired by a medical image diagnostic apparatus such as a CT apparatus) via a network, and further executes communication control processing in the network. For example, internet communication using TCP/IP may be performed.

For example, the CPU 201 enables an image to be displayed on the display 210 by performing rendering (rasterization) processing to an outline font in the display information area within the RAM 203.

Further, the CPU 201 enables the user to input an instruction on the display 210 by using, for example, a mouse cursor (not illustrated).

Various programs and the like for executing various types of processing (described later) by the medical image processing apparatus 101 according to the present invention are recorded in the external memory 211, and are executed by the CPU 201 by being loaded into the RAM 203 as occasion demands.

Definition files and various information tables used when executing programs related to the present invention are also stored in the external memory 211.

Fig. 1 (b) is a block diagram showing a functional structure of the medical image processing apparatus 101. The CPU in the medical image processing apparatus 101 functions as a layer management unit 250, a surface data creation unit 251, a layer display condition setting unit 252, a patient information acquisition unit 253, and a 3DPDF output control unit 254.

The layer management unit 250 manages regions designated from medical image data captured by the medical image diagnostic apparatus as layers of the respective regions. Here, the layer management unit 250 may be a functional unit that manages, as layers, respective regions extracted based on automatic extraction conditions set and managed in advance corresponding to analysis software, or manages, as layers of a three-dimensional body organ model, respective regions specified by a user from medical image data.

The surface data creation unit 251 (surface shape creation unit) is a functional unit capable of converting medical three-dimensional image data into surface shape data. When a body organ for which an electronic document is to be output is divided into a plurality of layers, the surface data creating unit 251 may perform conversion into the following surface shape data: the surface shape data is divided by regions corresponding to the respective layers. An appropriate known technique, such as Marching cubes algorithm, can be used as a method for converting medical image data into surface shape data.

The layer display condition setting unit 252 is a functional unit for setting display conditions on how to display the three-dimensional body organ model on the electronic document. The layer display condition setting unit 252 may set display conditions such as layer display colors and layer names (display names) of the respective layers constituting the three-dimensional body organ model. These display conditions may be set by acquiring a layer display color and a layer name set in advance corresponding to the analysis software, or may be set by acquiring a layer display color and a layer name set by the user.

The patient information acquisition unit 253 is a functional unit that acquires patient information such as a patient name, a patient ID, an examination date, a birthday, an age, and a sex from DICOM additional information of medical three-dimensional image data to be output as an electronic document.

The 3DPDF output control unit 254 (electronic document creation control unit) is a functional unit that performs control to output an electronic document in PDF format, which can display a three-dimensional body organ model, based on the surface shape data created by the surface data creation unit 251. The three-dimensional body organ model divided into the plurality of layers may be output together as an electronic document. The output of the electronic document may also be controlled in such a manner that the display condition acquired by the layer display condition setting unit and the patient information acquired by the patient information acquisition unit are displayed.

Fig. 5 illustrates an example of a screen displayed by the medical image processing apparatus according to the present invention, on which a user can instruct to create an electronic document. This embodiment is described in connection with an example in which medical three-dimensional image data of a region including the heart is output as an electronic document.

In the case of a region including, for example, the heart (hereinafter referred to as "heart region"), the medical image processing apparatus 101 is configured to be able to manage the heart region while dividing the heart region into a plurality of layers called "right coronary artery", "left coronary artery", "heart", and "aorta", and to switch between a display mode and a non-display mode when the display button 501 is selected on the display by layer. In the case of outputting the 3DPDF, the medical image processing apparatus 101 may perform control so as to output, as the three-dimensional body organ model, the layer for which the display mode is selected by the display button 501, and not output, as the three-dimensional body organ model, the layer for which the non-display mode is selected. The layer may be set as a region extracted by a user from medical three-dimensional image data. Alternatively, when analysis software activated at the time of displaying medical three-dimensional image data is managed in such a manner that a predetermined region is extracted in advance (i.e., when the medical image processing apparatus 101 includes an extraction condition management unit), layers may be set as regions extracted according to these extraction conditions.

The thumbnail image display portion 502 is a display portion capable of displaying thumbnail images of areas set as layers, and the thumbnail image display portion 502 can also be used to set layer names. More specifically, when the thumbnail image display section 502 is selected, the layer name setting screen 601 shown in fig. 6 (a) is displayed. The layer name can be set by entering a desired layer name in the input field 602 and pressing the OK button 604. Further, since names input in the past are displayed in the history column 603, the layer name can also be set by selecting one of the names displayed in the history column 603. The layer names may be set by layer. Instead of setting the layer name on the layer name setting screen 601 by the user, the layer name may be set as a preset name when names corresponding to the respective areas are set in advance by analysis software started at the time of displaying the medical three-dimensional image data.

The layer display color setting section 504 is a setting section capable of setting a layer display color at the time of surface display. When the layer display color setting part 504 is selected, a color adjustment palette 611 shown in fig. 6 (b) is displayed, and a layer display color can be set by selecting a desired color in the color adjustment palette 611 and by pressing the accept button 612. The colors may be displayed in layer-by-layer arrangement. Instead of setting the layer display color as the display color selected by the user, the layer display color may be set as a preset display color when the display colors corresponding to the respective regions are set in advance by analysis software activated when displaying the medical three-dimensional image data.

Fig. 6 (c) illustrates an example of a table for managing layer information including the layer names and the layer display colors set as described above by layers. As shown in fig. 6 (c), the table stores an item 621 for switching between the display mode and the non-display mode, an item 622 indicating the name of the setting, and an item 623 indicating the display color of the setting by layers.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example of a screen displayed by the medical image processing apparatus, which screen represents a state after the layer name and the layer display color are set. When, for example, a mouse pointer 701 is placed on the area of the thumbnail image display section 502 where the layer name is set, the set layer name 702 is displayed.

The transparent state setting button 503 is a button by which the user can switch whether the volume rendering image to be displayed in the display area 500 is presented in a transparent state or an opaque state by layers.

The volume display button 505 and the surface display button 506 are buttons by which the user can switch whether an image obtained by volume rendering of medical three-dimensional image data or an image obtained by converting the medical three-dimensional image data into surface shape data is to be displayed in the display area 500 of the medical three-dimensional image data. The surface display button 506 is designed so that the surface display button 506 cannot be selected when surface shape data has not been created.

The surface creation button 507 is a button by which the user can instruct processing of converting medical three-dimensional image data into surface shape data. When the conversion process is performed and the surface shape data is created, the created surface shape data is stored in a storage unit such as the external memory 211. By storing the surface shape data in the storage unit, it is possible to avoid repeatedly performing the surface creation process on the same medical three-dimensional image data.

Fig. 8 illustrates an example of a screen displayed by the medical image processing apparatus when the surface display button 506 is selected after the surface creation process has been performed. In the illustrated example, a three-dimensional body organ model of surface shape data created from medical three-dimensional image data is displayed in the display area 500. The display color of each region of the three-dimensional body organ model displayed at this time is the display color set by the layer display color setting section 504.

The output button 508 is a button by which the user can output the surface shape data created by the surface creation process as a file. For example, the surface shape data may be output as data in STL format, IDTF format, or VRML format. The output data may be used when an electronic document is manually created by a user, or when a modeling process is performed by a three-dimensional printer. The setting button 509 is a button by which the user can set conditions and a storage destination when performing the surface creation process.

The memo input field 510 is an input field (input unit) in which a user can input a comment or the like to be added when outputting an electronic document. The layout selection button 511 enables the user to select whether the electronic document is output in the portrait orientation or the landscape orientation. The 3DPDF output button 512 is a button by which the user can instruct to output an electronic document including a three-dimensional body organ model corresponding to an image displayed in PDF format in the display area 500. When the 3DPDF output button 512 is pressed, an electronic document corresponding to the medical three-dimensional image data displayed in the display area 500 at that time is output. The electronic document is output such that the names and display colors of the respective layers of the three-dimensional body organ model to be presented on the electronic document are given to the name set by the thumbnail display section 502 and the color set by the layer display color setting section 504, respectively.

The flow of processing until the layer names and layer display colors of the respective areas specified from the medical image data are set will be described below with reference to the flowchart of fig. 2. The processing shown in the flowchart of fig. 2 is executed by the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 reading and executing the stored control program.

In S201, the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 starts analysis software designated by the user. More specifically, the CPU 210 may start analysis software in which the body organ extraction condition and the layer display condition are set, such as "heart analysis software" and "liver analysis software", or analysis software in which no condition is set, such as free analysis software.

In S202, the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 accepts designation of medical image data to be displayed from the user. Since medical image data is normally stored in a PACS (image server) as described above, the medical image processing apparatus 101 can specify not only data stored in the medical image processing apparatus but also data stored in an external PACS (image server) and the like. Although the above description is made in connection with an example in which medical image data is specified after the analysis software is started, the present invention is not limited to such an example, and the analysis software may be started after the medical image data is specified.

In S203, the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 acquires the medical image data specified in S202 from the storage unit in which the medical image data is stored.

In S204, the CPU 201 determines whether layer conditions (such as extraction conditions and display conditions) of the body organ are set in the analysis software started in S201. If the layer condition is set, the process proceeds to S205 to S207. More specifically, a region is extracted according to the set extraction conditions and set as a layer (S205). The layer name is set according to the set display condition (S206), and the layer display color is set according to the set display condition.

On the other hand, if the layer condition is not set, the process proceeds to S208 to S210. More specifically, the CPU 201 accepts setting of an area defined as a layer from the user (S208), accepts setting of a layer name from the user (S209), and accepts setting of a layer display color from the user (S210).

Alternatively, it is also possible to automatically extract a layer and manually set a layer name and/or a layer display color by a user. The task of setting the layer name and/or the layer display color is not necessary. When the layer name and/or the layer display color are not set, the related information is not reflected in the electronic document only.

The flow of the surface shape creation process executed when the lower surface creation button 507 is pressed will be described below with reference to the flowchart of fig. 3. The processing shown in the flowchart of fig. 3 is executed by the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 reading and executing the stored control program.

In S301, the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 determines whether the surface creation button 507 is pressed. If it is determined that the surface creation button 507 is pressed, the process proceeds to S302, and in S302, the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 creates surface shape data per layer set in S205 or surface shape data per layer set in S208. In practice, the individual layers may be converted to surface shape data by using suitable techniques of known techniques, such as the Marching cubes algorithm.

In S303, the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 stores the surface shape data created in S302 at a preset position in the storage unit. In practice, the vertex coordinates obtained, for example, with the Marching cubes algorithm are stored as surface shape data.

After the above-described processing ends, when the lower surface display button 506 is pressed, the CPU 201 may display the three-dimensional body organ model created based on the surface shape data in the display area 500, or output a file when the output button 508 is pressed.

The flow of processing executed when the 3DPDF output button 512 is pressed will be described below with reference to the flowchart of fig. 4. The processing shown in the flowchart of fig. 4 is executed by the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 reading and executing the stored control program.

In S401, the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 determines whether the 3DPDF output button 512 is pressed. If it is determined that the 3DPDF output button 512 is pressed, the process proceeds to S402, and in S402, the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 determines whether the surface creation button 507 is pressed and surface shape data (surface processing data) was created in the past. In practice, this can be determined by checking whether the surface shape data is stored in a preset position in the memory cell.

If it is determined in S402 that the surface shape data was created in the past, the process proceeds to S404 without executing the creation process again. If it is determined in S402 that the surface shape data has not been created in the past, the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 creates the surface shape data per layer set in S205 or the surface shape data per layer set in S208 and stores the surface shape data at a preset position in the storage unit as in S302. Therefore, when the surface shape processing has been performed in the past, the surface shape processing can be omitted in the processing of creating the 3DPDF, and the time taken to create an electronic document can be reduced.

In S404, the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 acquires surface shape data of the layer set to the display mode by the display button 501 from the storage unit, the surface shape data being created in S403 or S302. In S405, the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 acquires the name of the layer set to the display mode by the display button 501, and the layer name is set in S206 or S209. In S406, the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 acquires the display color of the layer set to the display mode by the display button 501, and the layer display color is set in S207 or S210. The above-described setting data may be acquired from the table shown in fig. 6 (c), for example.

In S407, the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 acquires patient information such as a patient name, a patient ID, an examination date, a birthday, an age, a sex, and the like from the DICOM-attached information of the medical image data specified in S202.

In S408, the CPU 201 in the medical image processing apparatus 101 performs control to output an electronic document in PDF format capable of displaying a three-dimensional body organ model by using the surface shape data acquired in S404, the layer name acquired in S405, the layer display color acquired in S406, and the patient information acquired in S407.

Although the surface shape data, the layer name, and the layer display color are separately obtained in the above example, they may be collected together into one file before outputting the surface shape data, the layer name, and the layer display color so that they can be used when creating an electronic document from the related file and the DICOM additional information. For example, the IDTF format or the VRML format may be used as a format of a file that is output in a centralized form.

Through the above operation, the user can create an electronic document corresponding to desired medical image data. As a result, even in, for example, an operating room in which a high-performance computer is not installed, the user can check the three-dimensional state of a body organ to help carry out treatment and diagnosis.

Fig. 9 and 10 each illustrate an example of a state in which an electronic document 902 output by the process illustrated in fig. 4 is displayed on an electronic document reader 901.

Electronic document reader 901 includes an area where electronic document 902 is displayed and a selection area 906 where a user selects a display model of the electronic document to be displayed. Electronic document 902 includes a three-dimensional body organ model 905, a patient information column 903, and a remarks column 904.

The selection area 906 includes a check box for enabling the display mode or the non-display mode to be selected (switched) by layers. Further, a name corresponding to the layer is displayed in the selection area 906. The body organ regions corresponding to the selected layers are displayed as three-dimensional body organ models 905 on the electronic document 902, while the body organ regions corresponding to the unselected layers are not displayed as three-dimensional body organ models 905 on the electronic document 902. FIG. 10 illustrates the state of electronic document 902 when the "heart" layer in selection area 906 is not selected. In the three-dimensional body organ model 905 on the electronic document 902 shown in fig. 10, the heart region is not displayed. Further, the three-dimensional body organ model 905 is created such that regions of the body organ corresponding to the layers are each displayed in the set display color. Accordingly, since the display mode and the non-display mode can be switched by layers, the user enables only a desired body organ model to be displayed or not displayed on the electronic document by specifying the relevant body organ.

The patient information acquired in S407 is displayed in the patient information column 903. As described above, by displaying the patient information corresponding to the three-dimensional body organ model 905, the patient to which the electronic document belongs can be easily identified. In addition, when the 3DPDF output button 512 is pressed, the comments that have been input in the memo input field 510 shown in fig. 5 are reflected in the memo field 904.

The present invention can be realized in the form of a system, an apparatus, a method, a program, or a storage medium, for example. More specifically, the present invention can be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices, or to an apparatus composed of one device.

The present invention includes a case where a software program for implementing the functions of the above-described embodiments is directly or remotely supplied to a system or an apparatus. The present invention also includes a case where an information processing apparatus in the system or apparatus implements these functions by reading and executing program code supplied to the system or apparatus.

Therefore, program codes installed in the information processing apparatus to implement functions and processes required in the present invention by the information processing apparatus also participate in implementing the present invention. To this end, the present invention includes a computer program that implements functions and processes required in the present invention.

In the above case, for example, the computer program may be in the form of object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to an OS as long as it has a function of a program.

Examples of the recording medium for supplying the program include a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, an MO, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, and a CD-RW. Other examples include magnetic tape, non-volatile memory cards, ROM, and DVD (DVD-ROM or DVD-R).

As another method, the program may be provided as follows. The client computer accesses a homepage on the internet by using a browser installed therein. Then, the client computer downloads the computer program itself according to the present invention or a file containing the computer program in a compressed form and having an automatic installation function from a homepage onto a recording medium such as a hard disk or the like.

Alternatively, the computer program according to the present invention may be provided by dividing the program code constituting the program into a plurality of files and by downloading the files from different home pages. In other words, the present invention also includes a WWW server for downloading a program file to a plurality of users to implement functions and processes required in the present invention by an information processing apparatus.

Furthermore, the computer program according to the present invention may be provided as follows. After encrypting the computer program, the encrypted program is stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM or the like and distributed to users. The user who has cleared the predetermined condition is enabled to download key information necessary for decrypting the encrypted program from the homepage via the internet. Then, the encrypted program is decrypted by using the downloaded key information, and the obtained program is installed into the information processing apparatus.

The functions in the above-described embodiments are implemented by the information processing apparatus reading a program and executing the program. Alternatively, the OS running on the information processing apparatus may perform part or all of the actual processing according to the instructions of the read program, and the functions in the above-described embodiments may be implemented by the processing performed by the OS.

Further, the program read from the recording medium may be written in a memory provided in an add-on board inserted into the information processing apparatus or a memory provided in an add-on unit connected to the information processing apparatus. Then, a CPU or the like provided on the add-on board or the add-on unit may execute part or all of the actual processing according to the instructions of the written program, and the functions in the above-described embodiments may be realized by the processing executed by the CPU or the like.

The above-described embodiments merely represent practical examples to implement the present invention, and the above-described embodiments should not be construed as limiting the technical scope of the present invention. In other words, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the technical idea or main features of the present invention. The following claims are hereby appended to disclose the scope of the invention.

This application claims the benefit of japanese patent applications 2015-213477, 2015-213478 and 2015-213479, filed 10/29/2015, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

List of reference numerals

101 information processing apparatus, 250 layers management unit, 251 surface data creation unit, 252 layers display condition setting unit, 253 patient information acquisition unit, 254, 3DPDF output control unit.

Claims

1. A medical image processing apparatus that creates an electronic document showing a three-dimensional body organ model, comprising:

an accepting unit that accepts an instruction to specify medical image data and create an electronic document corresponding to the medical image data; and

a control unit that controls to create an electronic document of a three-dimensional body organ model corresponding to the medical image data,

wherein the three-dimensional body organ model is managed in a state in which the three-dimensional body organ model is divided into a plurality of layers for respective portions of an organ, and different colors are assigned to the plurality of layers,

wherein the accepting unit is capable of accepting an instruction indicating at least one of the plurality of layers, and

wherein the control unit controls to create the three-dimensional body organ model by switching display/non-display of a plurality of layers for respective portions of an organ in response to the instruction.

2. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an input receiving unit that receives an input of an annotation from a user,

wherein the control unit controls to create the electronic document so that the electronic document also contains the comment received by the input receiving unit.

3. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a surface shape creating unit that creates surface shape data from the medical image data and stores the medical image data in a storage unit,

wherein the control unit controls to create an electronic document of the three-dimensional body organ model by using the surface shape data created by the surface shape creating unit.

4. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein upon accepting the electronic document creation instruction, the control unit controls to create an electronic document by using the surface shape data stored in the storage unit without creating the surface shape data again by the surface shape creation unit in a case where the surface shape data of the corresponding three-dimensional body organ model is stored in the storage unit, and create the surface shape data by the surface shape creation unit and then create the electronic document of the three-dimensional body organ model by using the created surface shape data in a case where the surface shape data of the corresponding three-dimensional body organ model is not stored in the storage unit.

5. The medical image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the control unit controls to create the three-dimensional body organ model divided for each layer as one electronic document.

6. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the accepting unit is capable of accepting an instruction indicating which layer is to be used to create the electronic document.

7. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, further comprising a color setting unit that sets a display color for each layer,

wherein the control unit controls to create the electronic document such that the three-dimensional body organ model in the electronic document is given the color set by the color setting unit.

8. The medical image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 7, further comprising a name setting unit that sets names of the respective layers,

wherein the control unit controls to create the electronic document such that the name of each three-dimensional body organ model in the electronic document is given to the name set by the name setting unit.

9. The medical image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the electronic document is in a PDF format.

10. The medical image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising an extraction condition management unit that manages extraction corresponding to analysis software installed in the medical image processing apparatus,

wherein, in a case where the extraction condition corresponding to the analysis software which operates when the electronic document creation instruction is accepted by the accepting unit is managed by the extraction condition managing unit, the managing unit manages the three-dimensional body organ model extracted according to the extraction condition managed by the extraction condition managing unit.

11. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an acquisition unit that acquires patient information from DICOM additional information of medical image data specified when creation of an electronic document is instructed by the acceptance unit;

wherein the control unit controls to create an electronic document of a three-dimensional body organ model corresponding to the medical image data in response to the electronic document creation instruction accepted by the acceptance unit, the relevant electronic document containing the patient information acquired by the acquisition unit.

12. A control method of a medical image processing apparatus that creates an electronic document displaying a three-dimensional body organ model, the medical image processing apparatus performing:

an acceptance step of accepting an instruction to specify medical image data and create an electronic document corresponding to the medical image data;

a control step of controlling to create an electronic document of a three-dimensional body organ model corresponding to the medical image data in response to the electronic document creation instruction accepted in the accepting step,

wherein the three-dimensional body organ model is managed in a state in which the three-dimensional body organ model is divided into a plurality of layers for respective parts of an organ, and different colors are assigned to the plurality of layers, an

Wherein the accepting step is capable of accepting an instruction indicating at least one layer of the plurality of layers, and control is performed in the controlling step to create the three-dimensional body organ model by switching display/non-display of the plurality of layers for respective portions of the organ in response to the instruction.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute the control method according to claim 12.